Check it out: Greatest skidpad grip. Highest lane-change speed. Second-quickest sprint to 60 mph. Best driving position. Best back-seat comfort. Lightest curb weight. Steering and brake feel that were tied with the BMW's. A ride as cushy as the Benz's. And a fun-to-drive rating equaled only by the Cadillac's. All of that for the lowest as-tested price.

X3 vs. Acura RDX & MDX vs. Lexus RX350 vs. Cadillac SRX

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Test drove all in the last few days, and here are impressions:

- Cadillac not as bad as I expected, but also much less roomy than expected. Sits high and ceiling is low. Feels big, but handles well. V6 makes lots of noise, but doesn't move the car very well. Touch screen nice. Like the panoramic moonroof.

- Lexus RX350 very well put together. Very luxruious. Sereen. Floats. Steering feather light. Good quality interior materials. First rate navigation system. Nice room, except that rear seat headroom not very much. Seat cushions too short: not enough support under knees. Every luxury feature imaginable. Could fall asleep driving it, it's that easy to just glide along. Bumps in road very well isolated from cabin. Quiet. Like 18-year Scotch: Smooth. Has that funky toyota/lexus leather new car smell that's not very pleasant. Dealership a nice place to relax and watch sports on the big plasma TVs while hanging out with the gentile crowd.

- Acura MDX a big disappointment. Feels minivan big when driving, yet interior space doesn't feel noticibly larger than smaller RDX. Seating position high. V6 moves the car well enough, but doesn't sound very refined doing so. Headliner and sun visors feel plasticky and cheap. Button overload on hard plasticky dash painted fake aluminum. Front sport seats w/perforated leather very comfortable. Rear seats cramped and row cannot be moved back. Too much comfort in back is sacrificed for inclusion of 3rd row. Load height at rear to high.

- Acura RDX surprisingly fun to drive. Feels like a featherweight. Very tossable and quick. Tight steering ratio. Turbo 4 engine surprisingly powerful, but sounds like a Civic. Interior actually more comfortable than larger MDX. Still has same cheap plasticky dash button overload and cheap plasticky headliner and sun visor material. For $36K if I was on a tigher budget, I'd probably go with it over all other vehicles above. Still, fit and finish on some interior elements of car I test drove was surprisingly poor, such as leather stitching on steering wheel. Rear seat headroom not too good.

- X3 (Sport & Premium Package w/19" wheels) that I test drove was a completely different story than all other vehicles... First impression was just that getting in was easier than other others due to more car-like ride height. Surprisingly good headroom in rear seat, thanks to panoramic moonroof section that extends over rear seat (others above had reduced rood heigh above rear seat due to short moonroof. Easiest to install and remove our Graco Step 2 child seat, too; less climbing needed. Quality of interior materials SO much classier than others: leather is thicker, plastics more rubbery, wood and aluminum nicer looking. Controls so much simpler. Beefy, soft leather steering wheel a joy to hold. Handling and acceleration SOLID. Engine creamy smooth. Steering effort heavier (good). Even with 19" wheels and sport pkg, ride was not too harsh on poor roads. Only complaints: no option for electrically-closing rear hatch; and no factory option for rear-seat entertainment system.

Looks like we'll be buying an X3